John L. Culhane, Jr.

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Invitation Homes, the nation’s largest landlord of single-family homes, has agreed to pay $48 million and to stop a significant number of its rental practices, including misleading renters about lease costs and charging undisclosed fees characterized by the FTC as junk fees, according to an agreement approved Sept. 27 by the U.S.… Continue Reading

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) Office of Servicemember Affairs Annual Report was released on September 24, 2024, highlighting areas of concern regarding student lending and noting that the number of complaints that servicemembers filed with the CFPB increased in 2023.

The report identifies trends in complaints, highlights financial services issues impacting servicemembers and veterans, and offers recommendations to improve financial protections for the military community.… Continue Reading

On September 17, 2024, the CFPB issued Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-05 on improper overdraft practices. The circular reminded financial institutions of their obligation to retain records that prove the consumer consented to the institution’s payment of ATM and one-time debit card transactions.

The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E (12 CFR § 1005.17(b)(1)), prohibit financial institutions from charging an overdraft fee for paying ATM or one-time debit card transactions (“regulated overdrafts”) unless an institution: (i) provides the consumer with its overdraft service disclosure (a/k/a What You Need to Know About Overdraft and Overdraft Fees); (ii) provides the consumer a reasonable opportunity to opt in; (iii) obtains the consumer’s affirmative consent, or opt-in; and (iv) provides the consumer with a written confirmation of the consent, which includes a statement informing the consumer of the right to revoke such consent.… Continue Reading

Innovation and technology are not the magic wands that will help low-income Americans climb out of debt; they often are tools used to prey on the neediest people, Seth Frotman, the CFPB’s general counsel told the Poverty Law Conference earlier this month.

“We hear a lot about ‘innovation’ and ‘financial technology’ in the consumer financial marketplace,” Frotman said, adding that it is not uncommon for such businesses to boast about how they serve an underprivileged population.… Continue Reading

The most frequent consumer debt collection complaints filed with the CFPB in 2023 were attempts to collect debts that actually were not owed, the bureau said in its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report.

The CFPB said that those complaints amounted to 53% of the debt collection complaints filed with the bureau in 2023.… Continue Reading

Saying it wants to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive or anticompetitive practices, the Transportation Department on Sept. 5 launched an investigation into the rewards programs operated by the nation’s four largest airlines.

As part of that probe, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent the four airlines letters ordering them to provide records and submit reports about the operation of their programs.… Continue Reading

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., on August 30, 2024 introduced in the House of Representatives a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would nullify the CFPB’s final nonbank registry rule.

The rule, issued in June, will require certain nonbank entities to register certain covered enforcement or court orders.  Additionally, CFPB-supervised covered nonbanks must comply with ongoing attestation reporting requirements on their compliance with such orders.… Continue Reading

On August 28, 2024, the CFPB issued a consumer advisory warning that many video games and “virtual worlds” increasingly resemble traditional banking and payment systems that allow the storage and exchange of billions of dollars in assets, including virtual currencies.

The advisory emphasizes that these “non-traditional” markets have many of the risks associated with real-world transactions, as well as their own unique risks, but without gaming companies providing protection against such risks.… Continue Reading

In one of the first tests of the implications of the Jarkesy decision for other federal regulatory agencies, an individual accused by the FDIC of participating in fraudulent loan activity is asking a federal judge to dismiss the administrative proceeding the FDIC brought against him, contending, among other things, that he is being denied his right to a jury trial.… Continue Reading